Savimbo’s co-founder embodies grassroots conservation in the Colombian Amazon

Jhony López tells his story of the regional struggle to protect the rainforest in the face of the temptation of cashing in on deforestation. His story embodies the resilience of local communities and the courage of a man who stands up for the future generations and the living planet.

My name is Jhony López. I am an ecological leader and environmental activist from Villagarzón, in Colombia's Putumayo region. Because I was raised that way,  I became a hunter,  but the contact with the majesty of nature showed me the importance of valuing its rights, and for the last thirty-four years, I have dedicated all my efforts to protecting the area where I live.

At this moment. I am the President of the Junta de Acción Comunal de la Vereda Protectora de Reservas Naturales Los Tigres del Alto, a registered organization for the protection of the 77,000 hectares of intact rainforest that make up our territory, and for this, we have banned hunting or the falling of timber. 

Where am I speaking from?

The region I am talking about is the Amazonian foothills which is located in the area where two ecosystems converge: the Andean and the Amazonian. These characteristics make it one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. It is crossed by more than twenty-seven wild rivers which, with the purity of their waters, nourish and regenerate the Putumayo River and, therefore, also the Amazon. In this ecological corridor there is an infinity of animals: jaguars, tapirs, spectacled bears, anteaters, hedgehogs, deer, hundreds of species of butterflies, thousands of insects, and countless birds that fill the place with life with their songs. All these move freely in the forests and reproduce themselves. It is easy to see them. The territory also has six mineral watering holes, where the animals come to eat, also called salados. It is a completely pristine tract of jungle since, until now, no research, not even botanical, has been carried out. Also, in all this time, we have managed to keep multinationals at bay, who eagerly wait to come in and plunder the resources that are there.

The Vereda Protectora de Reservas Naturales Los Tigres del Alto joined the association El Salado de los Loros, which is made up of 14 communities. In total, we are more than 1,500 people working to rescue a small part of the world's lungs, which are getting weaker every day. The land we care for is in our name. Our ancestors came here many years ago and we, their descendants, have the title deeds that prove that we are the rightful owners. Even so, a group made up of colonialists and some indigenous people want to appropriate our lands. A repeat of history, they asked the government to assign them the land as shelter and, when this is legalized, they will hold a prior consultation with the multinational present in the area to hand over the territory. We have received several threats, but so far they have not managed to intimidate us.

How my story with Savimbo began

More than eleven years ago, I acquired two camera traps and, with them, we monitored the animals in the area. Through this technology, we came to know there are several jaguars patrolling the area, and that thousands of parrots come down from the heights to ingest the minerals that wait in the foothills for them. 

The rivers are completely wild. Their transparent water goes down towards the valley, between ancient trees and ancient stones. Fish of all sizes flaunt their iridescent scales in the sun, before slipping away in the currents. In the branches, the call of the monkeys is confused with the song of the birds and the silence of the jungle, woven with an infinity of natural noises, filling the ears of those privileged to be here with peace, in permanent communion with nature.

Unity has strength

For over a decade, the monitoring and conservation process was sustained by the will and resources of the local people, but it was clear that we needed the support of external agents. A little less than a year ago, a local shaman, Fernando Lezama, and I met Drea Burbank. She came to see the jungle and fell in love. After a few conversations, she decided to stay and commit herself fully to the cause. The three of us are extremely concerned about the imminent devastation of this ecosystem essential for biodiversity and the health of the planet. We know that to go beyond the traditional tepid talking, all the peasants and indigenous people of the area must be involved in the project. 

This is how Savimbo was born, a project that seeks to activate the local economy through projects for the conservation of the biodiversity that surrounds us. The team is made up of foreigners and locals who are united by the same passion: we all love nature.

With these conservation and reforestation projects, we seek to generate a new career: guardian of biodiversity. If smallfarmers and indigenous people have the necessary resources to live and support their families, they will not be forced to destroy the forest. If they are paid to take care of it, they will do it like no one else can, since they are children of this lush and sacred land. They love it, they know it, and they know how to protect and multiply its abundance.

With the ecotourism project, we want to raise awareness among the locals so that they know how to protect the jungle for their future clients. Only they can avoid the harmful footprint of the tourists who does not know how to pass through a territory without causing damage. Because this ecosystem is delicate, if they learn, they will be able to teach visitors how to enjoy this paradise, to absorb the vital energy of this ecosystem teeming with life, to take home a spiritual memory of this treasure, without leaving the jungle with a crack because they have stolen a child.

Beyond words

Savimbo started in June 2022, and to date 200 growers have joined the project with a total of 7,000 hectares of primary forest, which we protect as a team. On these hectares, we have sighted jaguars thirty-nine times, thanks to camera traps. The presence of this animal, which is both an umbrella and a keystone species, shows that this is a territory where biodiversity is intact, as it is at the top of the trophic chain and for its survival requires a very large territory, in which all the species below them are present and healthy. For this reason, we know that we have in our hands a paradise of life like few others on the planet and we work, day by day, not only to preserve it but also to extend its borders to include the entire rainforest. 

Our dream is to continue caring for the nature that surrounds us. We want to preserve this space where people become aware of the beauty of the planet as well as its fragility. The walks through this exuberant paradise are a window towards change, because everyone who responsibly enters this paradise where life overflows all limits, always returns with a new vision of their relationship with the environment. For this reason, our greatest desire is to raise awareness worldwide and draw attention to this unique and healthy ecosystem, since it can only be saved if we work as a team, no matter where we are living. 

We believe that this will be an essential step in our desire to perpetuate the life of this treasure of biodiversity, the last reserve of pure water and refuge for jaguars that every day have less space on the planet.

Written by Jhony López. Jhony is a founder of Savimbo and a prominent environmentalists in the Putumayo area